What is an implementation partner?

In June 2012, in response to an RFP, three consulting firms presented their proposals to serve as the implementation partner for the enterprise system upgrade. Of the three firms, CedarCrestone (CCI) was selected and a contract was approved by the Board of Regents in July. But what is an "implementation partner" and why is one needed?

Some software installations are so significant and/or complex that they are undertaken relatively infrequently (e.g., the upgrade of the University's enterprise system). Because of this, institutions generally do not have dedicated upgrade experts on staff. So when it comes to undertaking a major upgrade, those with expertise in performing the installation are brought in. This is called an implementation partner. The partner is selected based on their experience in implementing similar installations of the software at similar institutions.

CCI is the University's implementation partner for the Enterprise Systems Upgrade Project. They have extensive experience with higher education implementations of PeopleSoft and with business process redesign, including splitting the Human Resources and Student database into two separate databases--a task to be accomplished during this upgrade.

University project staff will work alongside CCI staff allowing them to build the University's internal knowledge and expertise. Since a dedicated and focused team is required for a long-term project of this scale, University employees will move to the upgrade for the duration of the project, and many will be "backfilled" in their home departments or units so that the day-to-day work of the University continues. Since employees who work on the project will return to their home appointments, units or departments who hire backfill employees must have a clear plan to transition backfill employees at the end of the project.

Though the number will vary over the span of the project, the combined team will include between 200 and 300 people, the majority being University employees. With CCI contributing extensive PeopleSoft implementation experience and University staff contributing internal knowledge and expertise, the strengths of both will be leveraged to ensure the success of the project.